Coolidge - by Amity Shlaes (Paperback)

About the Book

A brilliant and provocative reexamination of America's thirtieth president, Calvin Coolidge, and the decade of unparalleled growth that the nation enjoyed under his leadership.

Book Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller

"Amity Shlaes's new biography carries a different and highly relevant message. . . . Read Coolidge, and better understand the forces bearing on the President and Congress almost a century later." -- Paul Volcker

"America's 30th president has been much misunderstood. . . . Shlaes's biography provides a window onto an unfairly tarnished period. It deserves to be widely read."--The Economist

Timed to the centennial of the Calvin Coolidge presidency, an updated edition of Amity Shlaes's brilliant and provocative New York Times bestselling biography examines an underrated chief executive who offered a model of presidential service strikingly different from that seen in America today. This new edition features a preface by Washington Post columnist George F. Will.

Seemingly unbreachable political divisions, war and pandemic, unrest in cities, a budgetary crisis, economic disruption -all troubles we confront today--also challenged America a century ago. When President Warren Harding passed away suddenly in 1923, America seemed to be heading deeper into uncertainty. Many considered the vice president who suddenly succeeded Harding, the modest Silent Cal, a mere lame duck. Yet over the course of the 1920s, through breathtaking discipline and determination, this unexpected president set America on a new course and restored the nation's confidence in itself.

In this magisterial political biography, bestselling author Amity Shlaes traces Coolidge's dramatic story, and the roots of his strength, from a childhood in a New England hamlet to his rise from town lawmaker to governor of Massachusetts and his dramatic handling of the Boston Police strike. Through bipartisanship, civility, and sheer perseverance, the thirtieth president ended the era of crisis and delivered both a solvent government and a better life to working Americans.

More importantly, Coolidge carefully rebuilt Americans' trust our own government. As Shlaes shows, Coolidge led by example, inspiring Americans to cast away irony and anger. Elected on his own in 1924, Coolidge seemed set for reelection in 1928. Yet a fateful trip to South Dakota--where he observed the great profiles of other Presidents being sculpted at Mount Rushmore--coincided with Coolidge's greatest demonstration of presidential leadership. Precisely because he believed service more important than glory, as Shlaes records, Coolidge made a sacrifice rare for a popular president, and announced he would not run again.

At once a revision of a leader and a decade, this dramatic biography, complete with a new preface from George F. Will, Coolidge captures the remarkable and again timely story of a rare president whose leadership couldn't be timelier today.

This authoritative work of American history reveals:

• A Model of Presidential Leadership: Discover how Coolidge's belief in service over glory offered a powerful alternative to modern leadership, culminating in his shocking decision not to seek reelection.
• Fiscal Discipline in Action: Learn how the 30th president's focus on bipartisanship and perseverance successfully created a solvent government and a better life for working Americans.
• A Man of Character: From his dramatic handling of the Boston Police strike to his quiet civility, trace the story of a leader who rebuilt the nation's trust in its government through personal example.
• Lessons for the 21st Century: Understand the striking parallels between the challenges of 1920s America--deep political divisions, economic disruption, and social unrest--and the issues we face today.

From the Back Cover

Calvin Coolidge never rated high in polls, and history has remembered the decade in which he served as an extravagant period predating the Great Depression. Amity Shlaes provides a fresh look at the 1920s--triumphant years in which the nation electrified, Americans drove their first cars, and the federal deficit was replaced with a surplus--and the little-known president behind them. Perhaps more than any other president, Coolidge understood that doing less could yield more, reducing the federal budget even as the economy grew, wages rose, taxes fell, and unemployment dropped.

In this illuminating, magisterial biography, Amity Shlaes captures the remarkable story of Calvin Coolidge and the decade of extraordinary prosperity that grew from his leadership.

Review Quotes

"America's 30th president has been much misunderstood. . . . Shlaes's biography provides a window onto an unfairly tarnished period. It deserves to be widely read." - The Economist
"Amity Shlaes's new biography carries a different and highly relevant message. . . . Read Coolidge, and better understand the forces bearing on the President and Congress almost a century later." - Paul Volker
"Timely and important. . . . The research is exhaustive, and the political and economic analysis sound. . . . As the nation faces a looming economic crisis wrought in large measure by mounting public debt, the Coolidge experiment offers insights into what an alternative course might look like. Shlaes has given us a detailed examination of that alternative course." - Robert Merry, Wall Street Journal
"Timely and important. . . . The research is exhaustive, and the political and economic analysis sound." - Wall Street Journal
"With a deft finger on today's conservative pulse, Shlaes portrays Calvin Coolidge as a paragon of a president by virtue of his small-government policies." - The New York Times Book Review -- Editor's Choice
"Shlaes is the right person to write this story. . . . Her willingness to question conventional wisdom shows up in this Coolidge biography. . . . This biography is timely because Coolidge faced a federal debt similar to our current one. . . . Coolidge's story is more important than ever." - Indianapolis Star
"Amity Shlaes's rich new biography reminds us that Calvin Coolidge must not be forgotten in our era of staggering government deficits and poisoned political rhetoric. . . . A finely muted drama--the tale of an unprepossessing man who overcomes, prevails, exits with honor and establishes something admittedly special: an American archetype." - USA Today
"Amity Shlaes's rich new biography reminds us that Calvin Coolidge must not be forgotten in our era of staggering government deficits and poisoned political rhetoric. . . . A finely muted drama." - USA Today
"Amity Shlaes's extraordinary biography describes how a single politician can change an entire political culture -- a story with plenty of echoes today. Alice Roosevelt Longworth, doyenne of the Washington salons, first disdained Coolidge, then admired him. After reading Coolidge, every reader will, too." - Anne Applebaum
"Amity Shlaes's new biography carries a different and highly relevant message. . . . Read Coolidge, and better understand the forces bearing on the President and Congress almost a century later." - Evolving Woman
"History has paid little attention to the achievements of Coolidge because he seemed to be unduly passive. Yet Amity Shlaes, as his biographer, exposes the heroic nature of the man and brings to life one of the most vibrant periods in American economic history." - Alan Greenspan
"To read Amity Shlaes's well-crafted biography is to understand why Reagan so admired the famously reticent man whom Shlaes calls 'our great refrainer.'" - George Pelecanos, on Northline
"Shlaes impresses readers with the single-mindedness of Coolidge's pursuit. . . . For the next decade or so, it may be Amity Shlaes who has custody of Coolidge's reputation." - New Yorker
"Amity Shlaes's new biography ushers in a long-overdue rehabilitation of the 30th president. . . . Coolidge is a compelling, endlessly rewarding, and persuasive contribution to historical scholarship." - Weekly Standard
"Coolidge is a welcome new biography of a great American president. Amity Shlaes shines fresh light on a leader of humble persistence who unexpectedly found himself in the presidency and whose faith in the American people helped restore prosperity during a period of great turmoil. Amidst today's economic hardships and an uncertain future, Shlaes illuminates a path forward -- making Coolidge a must-read for policymakers and citizens alike." - Paul Ryan
"A marvelous book that is in many respects as subtle and powerful as Coolidge himself. Shlaes's masterly command of economics, policy, and personal portraiture illustrates the times, talents, character, and courage of the consummate New Englander." - Bookshelf